Watch Your Step
The Craftsmen Who Stamped Park Hill’s Sidewalks
By Dale S. Deane, Clara R. Deane,
Caitlin A. Deane and Kevin D. Deane
For the GPHN
You may have been walking around the neighborhood more during this time of COVID-19, in which case you may have noticed stamps on the cement sidewalks.
The stamps list the names of companies/contractors and usually the year that the sidewalk was placed. The names are varied. They include Ford Rogers (who was quite prolific), J. Hildebrand, A. Leason, T.W. Love and J.W. Anderson, among others. One of the more colorful contractor names is Orville Stickley – especially if one is a fan of popcorn and furniture, respectively! In addition, there are the slice-of-bread style logos of the National Construction Company and the flowing banner of the City Sidewalk Company.
Most are stamped or etched into the cement. However, a few are embedded metal plaques. At times, the manufacturer of the cement is also listed. For example, many stamps list “Ideal Portland Cement,” which was made by the Ideal Cement Company (formerly the Colorado Portland Cement Company) that was based in Portland, Colo., near Cañon City.
Lincoln Cushing, who authors a website dedicated to sidewalk stamps, notes that the stamps can help us learn about construction dates and patterns of urban development. (Check out the site, at docspopuli.org/articles/Stamps/SidewalkStamps.html.)
Indeed, seeing a stamp dated 1903 along Montview Boulevard can remind us that was the year the boulevard was first paved – and further lead us to imagine the excitement of 100 years ago when the Park Hill neighborhood was first developing. A well-preserved example of a 1903 stamp can be found on the sidewalk in front of the Park Hill Branch Library, at the northeast corner of Dexter and Montview.
Notably, while there are stamps from 1903 (and some streets close to Colorado Boulevard still have sandstone pavers which likely predate many cement sidewalks), most dates are from the 1950s to 1970’s.
Fewer are from the 1980’s onward. There are likely several reasons for this trend, including the longevity of well-poured cement in a relatively dry climate. However, given that there are many new unstamped sidewalks, additional reasons for lack of modern stamps may be, as Cushing suggests, “because of fear of litigation and a changing attitude towards craftwork.”
The next time you are out and about on foot in Park Hill, keep an eye out for sidewalk stamps, and a bit of the past beneath your feet.
For more information about sidewalk cement stamps in Colorado, visit these websites: masonryofdenver.com/2014/08/sidewalk-stamps/ and lainby.tumblr.com. Thomas J. Noel and William J Hansen also write about the historic sidewalks in their 2004 book, The Park Hill Neighborhood (Historic Denver, Inc.)
